The conversation languished, and after a while the visitor rose and said, `Well, I got to be driftin'. Which way do I go for the Y Z?'
`Cross the stream and head due south--there ain't no depth o' water just now. Less'n half an hour yu'll strike the trail to Hatchett's.'
With a word of thanks, Green mounted his animal and forded the creek. As he vanished among the trees he looked round, saw the miner watching him, and waved his hand.
`An' that ain't a good-bye, old-timer,' he muttered. `Yu an' me is goin' to meet again, or I miss my guess. That minin' outfit was considerable rusty for recent use, an' I'm bettin' high yu couldn't produce an ounce o' dust nohow.' He found the trail, and giving Blue the rein, headed for the ranch. It proved a longish ride, and darkness was coming on when he unsaddled, turned the horse into the corral, and made his way to the bunkhouse. The men were at supper, and Green caught what he was looking for an expression of surprise on the faces of the foreman, Durran, and several of the older men.
`Hello, Green!' greeted Larry. `Rattler was sayin' yu was shore lost, or Blue had "piled" yu, or
`I'd been snatched to glory by a blue-eyed angel with white wings,' suggested the late-comer with a smile. `Well, as a matter o' fact, I did get lost; this is shore a discouragin' country for strangers.'
`Them as don't mind their own business are liable to find it so,' put in Blaynes. `Get any rustlers?'
Green laughed easily. `Nary one; those interestin' animiles seem to be amazin' shy in these parts. I found a miner, though.'
A look of quick suspicion came into the foreman's eyes, and then he said carelessly: `Old Nugget, I s'pose. He's loco. Hope yu searched him to see if he'd got any steers hidden in his clothes.'
The men laughed gaily at the joke, and Green joined in; he did not want any open breach with Blaynes. Later, he got a chance to question Larry about the prospector.
`Oh, he's a harmless old piker,' replied the cowboy, with a touch of contempt in his tone. `Been pannin' the streams around here for years, an' if he gets "color" now an' then, he's happy. Never seen him at the ranch; but he goes into town for supplies. An' now I come to think of it, I've seen him powwowin' with Poker Pete, but we've all done that.' Green considered for a moment and, having determined that Larry was to be trusted, told the story of the missing cow and the ambush. The boy's eyes widened as he listened.
`Don't that beat hell?' was his astonished comment. `An' smart too. Say, this ain't no one man job. Why not tell Old Simon, an' ask for me as a side-partner?'
Green shook his head. `I'm layin' low for a bit. Yu keep all I've told yu behind yore face,' he said. `I'm relyin' on yu now; but we got work both ends. 'Nother thing. Don't let on that we're too friendly; we don't want 'em to get suspicious o' yu.'
`Rattler don't love me none as it is,' Larry said. `I'd have asked for my time months ago but for...'
`Shore; but don't tell me--I might be surprised,' interrupted his friend, with a grin. `Well, don't yu care. A fellow can't tell what's in the pack till the cards is turned.'
`Some fellers can't; yu seem to be able to,''Larry retorted.
`Easy enough with tinhorns like Poker Pete, but when Mother Fate is a-dealin' it's a hoss of a different color. Know anythin' about Old Simon?'
`Mighty little,' was the reply. `He settled here with his girl soon after the gold-diggin's petered out, but I never heard where he come from. That must be about eighteen years ago.'
`His daughter don't favor him much,' Green said reflectively.
`Much?' cried Larry indignantly. `She ain't a mite like him. How could she be? Old Simon never fell out of a picture-book.' Green shook with silent mirth. `Yu certainly are easy,' he chuckled. `The little feller with the bow an' arrows has got yu thrown an' tied shore enough.'
`An' another feller with a bow an' arrow'll lay yu out cold an' stiff if yu ain't careful,' retorted the boy, whose red face showed that the blow had gone home. `Joking on one side, Green, I wouldn't care to be in yore shoes.'
`Takes a man to fill 'em,' bantered the other.
`A good part o' one, anyway,' Larry flashed back. Whereupon they agreed to call it quits and sought their beds, entering the bunkhouse separately.
Lying in his bunk, Green turned over the events of the day in an endeavor to find a key to the mystery which overhung the ranch. He was convinced that the foreman was playing a deep game, but he had no proof, and he recognized that obtaining it would be no picnic. Not that this troubled him; he had been in tight places before--in fact, his life for years had been, as he humorously phrased it, `one damn squeeze after another.'
`If old Nugget is in this, he'll want to report my visit,' he ruminated. `I'll be around there early to-morrow,' and having thus settled the next step to be taken, he turned over and promptly fell asleep.
At daybreak he rose and dressed without awaking any of the others. He aroused the cook, who slept in his own quarters, and representing that he had an urgent job for the ranch-owner, managed to secure a meal and provision for the day, though not without protest.
`If all yu dudes is goin' to eat separate, I quit,' growled the cook. `What's the matter with this blamed ranch, anyway? There's Rattler comes pesterin' round for his breakfast 'alf an 'our ago, an' now yu. Must be afeared yu ain't earnin' yore pay, some o' yu.'
This was news for Green; the foreman had got ahead of him. A query to the cook as to Rattler's destination elicited a disgusted reply.
"Ow in 'ell do I know? Does he strike yu as a feller who advertises? Yu ain't told me nothin' yerself.'
`I don't advertise either,' Green laughed, and left the irate provision purveyor muttering dark and bloody threats against the next unlucky wight who should come in search of an early meal.
Surmising that the foreman might be on the same errand as himself, Green proceeded on his way cautiously, taking cover when it offered, and avoiding the skyline whenever it was possible to do so. He discovered no sign of Blaynes, however, until he reached the hut, and there, from the thick brush, he saw a horse with the reins thrown waiting patiently outside the door. Leaving his own mount, he crept close enough to make out the Y Z brand on the animal's rump.
Making a detour, he found a fallen tree which bridged the stream at a narrow point, and crossed. There were no windows at the back of the cabin, and stepping with the craft of an Indian, Green was soon crouched by the logs which formed the rear wall. Inside, he could hear voices, the foreman's and the old miner's.
`Now yu understan', Nugget,' Blaynes was saying. `He ain't wanted, an' if yu catch him nosin' round here, bump him off. There won't be no inquiries, an' if there is, it'll be put down to Injuns, if yo're careful.'
The other man laughed shortly, and guessing that the visitor was about to leave, Green retreated to the bushes. In a few moments Rattler appeared, mounted, and rode off in the direction of the ranch. Green waited patiently, and at the end of about half an hour, Nugget came out carrying a saddle and lariat. In a little clearing not far from the cabin was a rough corral. Nugget roped the sole occupant, a savage-looking cowpony, adjusted the saddle, and took a dim trail which appeared to lead to the mountains.
`Bet m'self two dollars he's headed for the Double X,' Green soliloquized. `I'll have to see if I win.'
Keeping well in the background, he followed the tracks of the man in front. The trail, which was obviously very little used, wound in and out among the trees and undergrowth, which here and there almost obstructed it. Nugget was evidently taking his time over the trip, and once the pursuer was near enough to get a whiff of rank tobacco. He at once slowed down. He had no fear of losing his man, for the ground was soft, and the hoof-marks of the pony showed clearly. For over an hour he jogged steadily on, and then found himself on the rim of a deep valley, treeless and covered with lush grass. Halfway down the long slope he could see his quarry trotting leisurely towards the other side. He waited until Nugget vanished over the far skyline, and then followed at a fast lope.